President Calvin Coolidge was known to be a man of very few words. He was nicknamed “Silent Cal” because of this propensity. His wife, Grace, once related the story of a young woman who happened to be seated next to her husband at a dinner party. The young woman told the president that she had made a bet with a friend that she could get at least three words of conversation from him. President Coolidge quietly responded, “You lose.” He had learned and mastered the art of carefully selecting words that kept his responses brief and to the point. It is a skill that we would do well to develop for use in our conversations and communications with each other. Mature people have learned not to utter everything that comes to their minds, especially in heated and emotional conversations. They have realized that there is a responsibility that comes with speech and thereby they choose their words carefully.

In a world where passions are easily inflamed by the words that we use, James 3:5 reminds us just how dangerous loose lips and an unrestrained tongue can be. It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that (MSG).

In recent months, we’ve seen images of the awesome devastation caused by fires in California. Thousands of acres burned up, numerous homes and neighborhoods devastated, and the heartbreak of families that have lost everything. It is reported that the 2018 wildfire season was the deadliest and has caused the greatest destruction on record in California. When you consider that a tiny spark can produce a raging inferno in nature you can begin to understand the destructive power of the tongue.

How many friendships have been ruined, lives irreparably damaged, marriages broken, fights erupted and wars declared because of the negative potential of the tongue? It may be small in comparison to other parts of the human body, but the tongue can be lethal. It is our chief means of communication and expression and is the first skill that we master after birth. Consider that, even before forming words and coherent speech, babies announce their presence, demand attention and have their needs tended to by crying out loudly, and making noises with their mouths. Mastery of speech and language enables us to communicate clearly as we grow. Consequently, we’re conditioned in our relationships to respond to what people say in our conversations. Maturity is revealed in using the right words at the appropriate times.

But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison (James 3:8 NKJV). Ouch! With a direct and blunt comment James further reminds us of the attention we need to pay to our words. Thoughtless or emotionally charged speech can get out of control very quickly and change the mood of a conversation. Some people pride themselves on speaking their minds and have no qualms about making their points in a direct manner, but caution is required to avoid escalating the dialogue into an argument.

Washington Irving, who wrote Rip Van Winkle, once said, “A sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.” James suggests putting a bridle on our tongues (James 1:26)to keep our words and conversations in check. In other words, exercise some restraint when you speak.

William Norris, an American journalist, once wrote great advice for tongue control: “If your lips would keep from slips, five things observe with care: To whom you speak; of whom you speak; and how, and when, and where.”

Perhaps if we simply listened to what our parents, teachers and elders told us growing up, we would have better control over our unruly tongues — “Think before you speak, choose your words carefully, and watch your mouth!”

Bishop Patrick L. Kelly is the pastor of Cathedral Church of God, 365 S. Dixie Hwy., Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. 954-427-0302.

By Gary Curreri

Photo by Gary Curreri

The Pompano Beach boys volleyball team won the school’s first county middle school championship in the sport with a 22-24, 21-13, 21-12 victory over Silver Lakes at Pompano Beach High School.

In the first set, the teams traded leads before eighth-graders Christensen Paul and Nikolai Jones slammed home kills for Silver Lakes to pull out the win.

Pompano Beach broke a 2-2 deadlock in the second set to go up 9-2 behind the serving of eighth-grader Logan Keothavy. They held that margin for most of the set and closed it out with two service points by eighth-grader Samson Lormeus.

In the final set, Pompano Beach seized an 11-8 margin after several early lead changes before pulling away from Silver Lakes as eighth-grader Nolan Debrocq had five straight service points and after a couple of side outs, and the score 18-10, the Bengals outscored Silver Lakes 5-2 for their first county championship in the sport.

Tournament MVP and Pompano Beach Middle School eighth-grader Logan Keothavy played an instrumental role during the season and in the playoffs. He’s played the sport since he began middle school athletics.

“I like playing and the team,” said Keothavy, 13, of Lighthouse Point. “I like passing, and hitting, and it feels pretty good to win the championship. I felt everyone in the crowd cheering for us – our parents, our families, everyone.”

When Pompano Beach dropped the first set of the championship game, Keothavy rallied the troops.

“We lost the first set and we didn’t think we should have lost that,” he said. “We weren’t moving our feet and playing like we usually do. Winning this is pretty big. We are 12-0 and that is better than any team.”

He said he wasn’t sure when the season began if they would hoist the championship trophy.

“It wasn’t until the fifth or sixth game of the season when I thought we had a chance to finish undefeated and win the county championship,” Keothavy said. “We were winning all of the time and it was fun.”

Pompano Beach Middle School coach Michael Miller was in his second year as volleyball coach at the school. Last season, he coached the girls team and this year the boys. Both teams lost in the quarterfinals of last year’s playoffs.

“It was a team of seven boys where no one was above the other and they all worked well as a team,” said Miller, who also teaches science at the school. “They listened to their coaches and captains and we all worked as a unit. No one was elitist and no one was above anyone else. It was a beautiful thing really.”

Miller said after losing the first set, they just talked about what they did wrong and what they could do to fix it.

“And we motivated each other,” Miller said. “We just needed to play stronger. We didn’t lose a single match during the entire season, not a single game. They played well as a unit.”

They lost two games (sets) in the playoffs. The other was in the quarterfinals in Coral Springs.

“It’s big,” Miller said. “The kids can see that you can be successful and work as a team. It is good life skills and it is beneficial to everybody, including the school. I couldn’t be prouder of these guys. They are very humble. They are all good students. They work well together. It’s a good thing.”

In addition to Keothavy, Miller also said the play of his captains, eighth-grader Zack Ruge and seventh-grader Garrett Weadock, were instrumental to the team’s success.

“Finishing undefeated is pretty special,” Miller said.

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Captain Marvel has become the biggest grossing film of 2019 thus far, topping How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and Glass.  This is the penultimate episode leading into the April 26 release of Avengers: Endgame, the climax of 11 years of Marvel movies.

Though an original story, Captain Marvel is filled with many Marvel Easter eggs, motifs and details that will reward the patrons of the late Stan Lee. In fact, the film opens with a  beautiful tribute to Stan “the Man” Lee, who created so many of the Marvel Comic superheroes who have struck box office gold.

The film opens when Vers (Brie Larson) and Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) are on a mission to infiltrate the Skulls.  Leading up to this mission, Vers has flashbacks involving American fighter jets and an older woman (Annette Bening).  When the mission goes haywire, Vers crash lands on planet Earth, circa 1990s.

After a confusing and convoluted opening, Captain Marvel settles into familiar territory, in which Vers meets S.H.I.E.L.D. Representative Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Agent Coulson (Gregg Clark).  Vers learns that she is actually Carol Danvers, an Air Force aviator who is best friends with Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch) and the old woman in her dreams is actually her commanding officer, Doctor Wendy Lawson.  

Once the characters are established, Captain Marvel moves at a pretty brisk pace.  Unlike the serious nature of the recent Avengers and Captain America movies, the emphasis is on fun, much like the recent Thor, Ant-Man and Doctor Strange movies.  Like these previously mentioned  Marvel movies, this film succeeds as a standalone movie.

Being a comic book movie, it is filled with many visual big screen treats — the bigger the screen, the better [Head to IMAX in Ft. Lauderdale to see it on the six-storey screen] — that feature computerized special effects and practical stunt work. Yet, it is the character interaction that makes these movies special. While Danvers has a nice reunion with Rambeau and her daughter, it is the relationship between Nick Fury and Goose the Ferkel (who looks like a nice cat) that many ticket purchasers are talking about.

Being the 21st film of the Marvel Comic Universe, Captain Marvel is the final piece of the puzzle that will culminate with Avengers: Endgame opening April 29. This is a unique time for the movies, for this summer may be the swan song of the big screen motion picture experience. 

⁶ “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:6-7

You never forget the first time you move away from home for an extended period of time. In my case, I lived in California for a year leaving my home state (Minnesota) behind. Obviously, this wasn’t the last time I left home for an extended period of time, hence I am writing from sunny Florida, my home for the last 22 years.

When you move away from home, you gravitate toward people who serve as surrogate family members. One particular woman was my adopted Grandma and, like my grandmas back home, she was a person of deep and profound faith. Her name was Margaret.

When I went to Margaret’s small apartment, I noticed a few things that left an impression with me. The first thing I noticed was a map of the world with push pins denoting the location of missionaries. Every day, Margaret would pray for each missionary, send and receive correspondence, and share their stories. She was elderly and dependent upon others for transportation but she felt that she was playing an important role in mission. Indeed, she was.

But it was the prayer journal that I remember the best. She followed the advice of a friend and wrote down her prayer requests, prayers of supplication. And, then, in another part of her journal, she wrote the answers for the purpose of giving thanks.

When Margaret began her journey of prayer with her prayer journal, her prayers of supplication outnumbered her prayers of thanksgiving. That soon changed.

As she kept journaling, she found it easier to have two separate journals, one for supplication and one for thanksgiving. There simply was not enough room for one journal.

Pretty soon, she discovered that she was spending more time praying prayers of thanksgiving as opposed to prayers of supplication. She told me: “Sometimes, I just spend hours giving thanks.”

When I consider the words of St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians: “supplication with thanksgiving,”
I am reminded of the importance of paying attention to the answers. God answers prayers before we even have a chance to ask. We must be alert, aware and grateful.

But I also consider this saintly woman of faith who really didn’t have a lot of possessions. She didn’t have transportation. She was dependent upon church members to get to worship. What she had was faith and what she could do was pray.

Missionaries benefited from her prayers all around the world. Church members were blessed by her pleasant demeanor and her genuine kindness. I was blessed by her profound wisdom and the strength of her faith, not to mention that I felt I had a Grandma nearby when I needed it. I think Margaret gave more than she ever realized, but I know one thing for sure — Margaret would want to remind my readers that God gave her even more than she ever asked.

Pastor Gross is a pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, located at 959 SE 6 Ave., Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. For more information, call 954-421-3146 or visit www.zion-lutheran.org.

By Gary Curreri

Blanche Ely basketball coach Melvin Randall promised his team could be special. It turns out he was right.

The Tigers won their eighth FHSAA championship and second Class 8A title in a row with a 57-52 victory over Bradenton Lakewood Ranch on Saturday at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland. It marked the second consecutive game that Blanche Ely erased a double-digit deficit to pull out the win.

The Tigers (25-6) closed out the season on an 18-game winning streak since a 64-47 loss to Tampa Hillsborough in the Charger Classic two months ago at Suncoast High School.

Aderes Staton-McCray led the Tigers with 19 points and the win meant that the Tigers have won more state championships than any other school in Broward County. They were previously tied with Dillard at 7. Lamont Evans added 12 points and Malachi Hazelton chipped in with 9 points and 6 rebounds before fouling out.

Joshua Scott also became the first player in school history to win three championships, and he celebrated the moment with a T-shirt documenting his 2016, 2018 and 2019 titles. The front of the T-shirt had three photos of Scott with three championship rings superimposed over his body. The back of the shirt read: “The first to ever do it!”

“It’s really a blessing,” Scott said after the game. He finished with 9 points and 5 rebounds despite playing with foul trouble. “This one is more special, probably because I’m the first person at Blanche Ely to get three.”

Blanche Ely nearly didn’t make it there when they erased a 15-point halftime lead against Windermere in the semifinals to win 56-54. Hazelton had 14 points and 8 rebounds in the win, while Tyrecke Francois had 12 points in the win.

“Like I always say, it’s a blessing. I’m a very, very blessed man,” said Ely coach Melvin Randall, who has won seven of the Tigers’ eight titles. Wade Edmond won the other one in 1993.

“I know how hard I work,” added Randall, who also won titles at Deerfield Beach in 1997 and 1999. “I know how hard I work these kids, and they stepped [up] to the challenge. And they’re the ones that really, really deserve this moment.”

Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line becomes home run sponsor

The Deerfield Beach-based Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line has partnered with Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium to offer a fan a chance at a two-night cruise during Miami Marlins Spring training games in addition to the Florida State League’s Jupiter Hammerheads and Palm Beach Cardinals play their regular season at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium April through September.

“We are thrilled to bring the excitement of Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line to thousands of baseball fans at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium during both Major League Spring Training and the Minor League regular season,” said Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line CEO Oneil Khosa. “This partnership solidifies our commitment to show locals and visitors everything Palm Beach County has to offer. You can go from a fun ball game to a quick getaway on a whim.”

Every time the home team hits a home run, the unmistakable Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line horn will sound, images of Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line’s ships will display on the 35-foot Jumbotron and one lucky fan will have the chance to win a Bahamas Paradise cruise courtesy of the cruise line. 

“We are very excited to start a new partnership with Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line,” said Mike Bauer, general manager of Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. “They provide a first-class experience and we cannot wait to introduce our fans to their gorgeous ships and vacation packages.”

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

As much as this writer loves his monster movies and spends his Saturday nights watching Svengoolie on MeTV, I’ve never watched an episode of Six Feet Under, a cable series about a funeral home run by a family. The actual science and business of this practical business is more likely to give me nightmares, compared to watching legends like Vincent Price and scream queen Linnea Quigley roaming the graveyards in search of flesh and brains.

To Dust opens this weekend and is a comedy/drama about death and decomposition. As expected, this is a serious and sad movie. Yet, for those in the medical profession with a dark sense of humor, To Dust is a movie for you.

The film opens with the sound of labored breathing with a respiratory machine. When the breathing and machine stops, the husband Shmuel (Geza Rohring) cuts his coat in grief [as per Jewish custom]. As the hospital staff begins the purification rites, Shumuel questions his wife’s soul and current state of pain.  

Shumuel seeks answers through science.  After attempting to find answers through higher level learning at university centers, Shumuel decides to pick the brain of a high school science teacher named Albert (Matthew Broderick).  Reluctant at first, Albert gets involved in the study of bodily decomposition as if he were trying to win the school’s science fair.

With echoes of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, Albert and Shmuel’s pursuit of science takes them from one bizarre situation to another.  Despite being a Kosher Cantor, Shmuel uses the corpse of a pig to determine the actual time of bodily composition, since a pig’s anatomy is similar to that of a human [pork is not kosher]. 

To Dust is filled with many of these contradictory scenes of the human condition. When a classic black & white monster movie plays on a television at Albert’s house, that somehow feels normal. These little details offset the gruesome subject, making To Dust a humane film in the long run.

As the blockbuster release of Captain Marvel has been revealed, the summer box office blockbuster is fast upon us, with Dumbo set to open at the end of this month.  Unique films like To Dust, The Last Resort and Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel will likely be pushed aside. See these unique films on the big screen when you get a chance.

By Gary Curreri

Highlands Christian Academy coach Davidson Loriston Sr. looked back at his 2018-19 boys soccer campaign with pride.

After not making the postseason last year, the Knights not only made the postseason, they won the district title and advanced all the way to the Class 1A regional final before losing 2-1 to host Lakeland Christian. It was their first trip to the regional finals in 19 years.

Along the way, Highlands Christian (11-8-2) needed penalty kicks to defeat St. John Paul II Academy for the district championship and,two games later, needed double overtime to defeat the Eagles again.

Highlands Christian lost in the regional quarterfinals in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, and in 2017 to Trinity Christian, 1-0, when they had last made the postseason. The Knights also lost in the regional semifinals in 2004, 2005, 2014 and 2016.

“It was amazing,” said Loriston Sr., who moved up to head varsity coach after coaching the middle school program at the school. “I told the kids that we had to work and do our part and God would take care of us. They all bought into it. 

The team received strong play from goalkeeper Daryl Carney, who logged 1,180 minutes played and posted four shutouts along with forward Jonathan Pereria, a junior, finished as the team’s leading scorer with 24 goals, and 3 assists. Pereria scored the lone goal against Lakeland Christian in the regional final. Carney left the regional final with a concussion just 15 minutes in, which also hurt the Knights’ chances.

Loriston Sr. said he didn’t even talk about winning the district championship.

“Honestly, when I met with the team, I told them my goal was not to win district,” he said. “I told them my goal was to make it to the final four. From there, the kids believed it.

“My team overcame a lot of things during the season,” Loriston Sr. said. “There were times when we just sat down and talked. I told them to worry about the things they could control and nothing else. I told them not to worry about it. This is your stress relief. Just go out and have fun.”

He said the team had two rallying points. The first when Thiago Nery was lost for the season to an injury and the second when they dropped a 3-0 decision to St. John Paul II Academy at home.

“After that game,” Loriston Sr. said, “we went around in a circle and each kid talked about what they could do better. The next two times we played St. John Paul II, we beat them. They deserved everything that they worked for this year.”

The team also benefitted from a trio of midfielders in sophomore Payton Caja (6 goals, 4 assists), and seniors Thiago Nery (8 goals, 10 assists in 14 games), and Lor Louis (4 goals, 7 assists). Unfortunately for the Knights, they lost Nery to a broken collarbone in a loss to Pine Crest last in the season.

Senior defenders Kyle Coulson (4 goals, 5 assists) and Ronison Exavier (2 assists) also played well in the back. Loriston also cited the efforts of freshman midfielder Moses Edson (goal, 7 assists) and junior defender Raphael Nery (goal, assist).

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

With the Oscar winners announced, Green Book enjoyed a noticeable bump at the box office and the positive word of mouth is likely to fill theater seats for people who cannot get seats for Captain Marvel, A Medea Family Funeral or How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. While the mainstream awards season is taking a break until the Tony Awards in June, people who are not members of the Academy, American Film Institute and actor or trade guilds/unions, can vote in the 17th Annual Rondo Hatton Award. Vote at www.rondoaward.com.

Established in 2002 by David Colton and Kerry Gammill, The Rondo Hatton Awards was one of the earliest collections of World Wide Web fan sites and the growth of the convention circuit. Oscar-winning director Guillermo Del Toro has been quoted that he would rather win a Rondo than an Oscar. Fortunately for Del Toro, the writer/director/producer has both.

With no surprise, Halloween and The Nun (both now on DVD) are two films that are nominated for the coveted “Best Film of 2018” in a crowded field of 15 nominations. 

Halloween was the most hyped horror movie of 2018. Jamie Lee Curtis returned to the role of Laurie Strode, in a role that made Curtis famous 40 years ago. With John Carpenter returning as a producer/creative consultant, this Halloween exorcised seven Halloween sequels and the two Rob Zombie reboots. Instead, this film focuses on a showdown between a grandmother and the boogeyman who harassed her in 1978.

Young Director David Gordon Green does a great job setting up the conflict with creepy cinematography and a good performance by Curtis. However, the film falters during the much-awaited climax that features poor survival decisions by our heroine. Without meaning to, this Halloween becomes a version of Home Alone, minus the sense of humor.

The Nun is part of the horror universe created by James Wan and has been represented by the The Conjuring and Annabelle movies. Set in war torn Romania, circa 1952, The Nun does a fine job setting up the atmosphere recreating the Gothic world of  Vladimir Dracula the Impaler. Alas, like Halloween, the climax does not live up to the build-up that went before. For Monster Mavens, there are 13 other “Best Film” choices to choose from by the April 20 due date.

So who is Rondo Hatton? The Hollywood publicity machine described Rondo as a man so ugly that he needed no make-up [to be in monster movies]. Rondo did appear in many mainstream motion pictures, mostly as a bit player in classics like The Ox Bow Incident or The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Rondo became a certified movie star as “The Hoxton Creeper” in the Sherlock Holmes film The Pearl of Death, which led to his featured films House of Horrors and The Brute Man.  

At the height of his career, Rondo died of a broken heart on Groundhog Day, 1946.

Like Richard Kiel, Andre the Giant and Irwin Keyes, Rondo really died from the complications from acromegaly, a disorder from one’s growth hormone. It is the acromegaly that distorted Rondo’s jawbone and gave him such gaunt features.

Like any monster legend, there are many folk tales that grew from Rondo’s malady. Having served in World War I, the Hollywood publicity machine claimed that Rondo was a victim of a German mustard gas attack. It is a fact that Rondo Hatton did serve (possibly with my Grandfather Dave Glen Watson) in World War I and aided the Pancho Villa Expedition under General Pershing. A Christian all of his life, Rondo is interred in the American Legion Cemetery in Tampa, his adopted hometown where he served as a sports writer for the The Tampa Tribune.

In the Purim story, read on Purim in the Book of Esther, the Persian Prime Minister, Haman, persuades the Persian king Achashverosh, to consent to a genocidal plan to annihilate the entire Jewish people. Haman offered the king a huge sum of money.

Reish Lakish said: It is revealed and known in advance to G-d that in the future Haman was going to weigh out shekels against the Jewish people; therefore, He arranged that the Jewish people’s shekels preceded Haman’s shekels.

What does this mean?

This Shabbos, Jews the world over read, in addition to the weekly Torah portion, an extra Torah, the “portion of the coins.” This section of the Torah records the mitzvah incumbent upon the people of Israel, to make a yearly contribution of a half shekel to cover the cost of all communal Temple offerings.

This mitzvah given to the Jewish people in the desert applied to all following generations as well. In every generation, every Jew was required to make an annual contribution of half his country’s standard coin, to cover the cost of the communal offering brought in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

So Reish Lakish is telling us that since G-d knew that in the future Haman was going to weigh out a hefty number of shekels—15,000,000 shekalim against the Jewish people, He arranged that the Jewish people’s shekels precede Haman’s shekels, to cancel out the power of the money which Haman gave to the Persian monarch.

Although this mitzvah is not applicable today, since we have no Temple, it is still a custom in Jewish communities to read this Torah portion at this time of the year. In the U.S., we contribute a silver 50-cent piece, since the dollar coin is our country’s standard coinage, just as the shekel was during the time of Moses.

This seems quite bizarre, to insist on Jews giving an imperfect gift!

The Torah wants each of us to contribute a whole complete shekel. But if I were instructed to contribute a complete shekel on my own, I could begin to think that I am a complete being in and of myself, since I have contributed a complete coin.

The Torah is attempting to teach us that you and I are really one. For me, the real me, the G-dly me, to contribute a complete shekel, I must contribute just a half shekel, allowing the other half to be contributed by my fellow Jew. When you and I contribute each a half shekel, each of us has, indeed, contributed a complete shekel.

By Emily Rosen

ERosen424@aol.com

www.emilyrosen424.com

I am a proud member of the Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem fan club and my feminist “creds” stack up high against any of today’s raging “fems.” I have quietly endured the silence of the pre #metoo movement when it was just as accepted for men to demean women in all sorts of subtle and not so subtle ways, as it was in the early 1900s to accept sending people of color to the back of the bus. We have traveled many miles since those days, but we have not yet reached an acceptable destination.

In the 1950s, when I was ecstatic to have landed a job as creative director in an ad agency (when all my friends were teachers), I discovered, after having achieved several proud moments on the job, and after having been literally chased around the huge important desk belonging to the boss, that I was facing two choices: “fool around with” (translated: “have sex” with) the boss or find another job. I found other jobs, some of which placed me in that same exact predicament. I have no lasting painful affects from those experiences. They seemed as natural to me as asking the grocer for three pickles. I learned how to quit jobs.

Fast forward to #metoo and today. It is very different, thanks to some kind of human evolution, as well as some very brave women willing to take risks.

Many of them now speak up about the unspeakable. As a result, many men are punished and all men are cautioned and educated about what is and what is not appropriate. They are learning – but some of them the hard way. Some of them are now subjected to the extremes of change.

I personally know of two instances where male behavior was totally misinterpreted, reported as sexual harassment, only to be justifiably dismissed after many months of investigation, as frivolous and unsubstantiated complaints — and the reason for the many months seems to be the avalanche of complaints that require investigation. With reputations tarnished, in some cases, economic stability ruined and emotional trauma gone unacknowledged, these men have experienced major suffering. I am not blind to the difficulty of proving such complaints, nor am I unaware of the many years when women’s complaints were dismissed unquestioningly. I am merely pointing out the ways in which extremists can destroy an important movement.

And there is another potential down side to frivolous accusations. It is not that women don’t like to be “touched.” We just don’t like to be touched inappropriately by inappropriate people. But let us not devalue the importance of touch in our lives. It is enough that we have come to accept as a value expressions of love and affection through texts and emails and www.flowers.com — no physical touch there. In recent years, we have seen an abundance of scientific studies that handily confirm emotional and physical benefits from touch, suggesting that the act of touch is fundamental to human communication, health and bonding, as it is a primary means of spreading compassion.

We don’t want men to stop touching us. We just don’t want the wrong men to touch in the wrong places. And we don’t want #metoo to scare away or inhibit the wonderful touchy-feely expressions of good friends who give good hugs. I, for one, attribute my longevity, in part, to some really good hugs.